Pages

Monday, November 5, 2012

Monday Musing: The Potty Post

I've been
looking for an excuse to use this forever. If you're a fan of Monty Python's
Flying Circus, you know they were quite fond of repetition. Repetition, in
fact, is a staple of good comedy. The sequence above occurred three times in
about a ten-minute span of an episode called 'The Buzz Aldrin Show'. They arrived
at it in different ways, and in the third instance, the fictional show's title
sequence was interrupted by an apology for the 'constant repetition in the
show,' immediately followed by the same apology, to great comedic effect.

Repetition is a
great tool in comedy. On a micro level, i.e., at the sentence and paragraph
level, it can be a great writing tool, as well. A repeated phrase or word can
really drive an idea home for a particular piece. It can also be used to
establish mood or rhythm or pace.

It's also
interesting to look at repetition on more of a macro level. Writers have a
tendency to repeat themselves across the body of their work. Stephen King has a
thing for finales involving town-consuming explosions and conflagration. Richard
Russo's Nobody's Fool and Empire Falls
both involve absentee and irresponsible fathers, great small town dynamics, and
freakish driver's education accidents. It's mostly fine. Some authors can forge
a career exploring the same themes or using the same setting. The problem comes
when people feel like they're reading the same book over and over again.

I found a
strange bit of repetition in my writing: bathrooms. In the last two years I
have a lot of scenes that involve actual bathrooms or the act of excretion. I
don't go into great detail about bodily functions, because that's never the
point of the scene/story, yet my writing over the last two years seems to have
an inordinate amount of bathroom type of activity. I did a quick tabulation and
came up with the following:

I have
referenced bathrooms or had an 'excretion scene' nine times in five works (2
novel-length, 3 shorts)

One short story
from my writer's circle took place entirely in an executive washroom

Five scenes
occurred inside, four took place outside

Three of the
outdoor scenes either mentione or described in some level peeing; in contrast,
only one indoor scene had any mention of urination at all, and one indoor scene
involved someone throwing up. Apparently, in my world, no one needs to go number
2

Several of the
scenes involve a character having a moment of clarity (call it an 'epeephany'),
as if the act of clearing the junk out of a bladder served to clear the junk
out of his brain as well.

A psychiatrist
could probably have a field day with this; I, however, am at a bit of a loss to
explain it. These scenes are in there because they work and help the story
along. Could they be rewritten to take place somewhere else, in some other
setting? Maybe. Should they be? I don't know. I'd hate to be known as the guy
that writes all the bathroom scenes.

It's made me
curious, though: do you find yourself using similar themes, scenes or imagery
from book-to-book, story-to-story? Does it ever worry you?

11 comments:

An epeephany! Hah hah hah. I did not notice that having read both of your novels, so I think you're okay. I do use very similar themes, scenes and imagery but thank goodness, my beta readers and CPs usually point out the most glaring stuff. But it doesn't really worry me. I know that for me as a reader, I like my favorite authors because their themes resonate with me and I keep buying their books because I know what I'm getting. There has to be something that is uniquely them to keep me reading--even if it's bathroom scenes! LOL. Great post.

I never noticed it but now that you mention it, yeah, I remember those bathroom scenes. Maybe you were just sitting at your desk too long & it was your subconscious mind's way of telling you to take a potty break. I know that's how it works in my dreams. Okay, TMI. I'm worried about writing about the same thing in my second book as I did in my first. I'm gonna have to make a mental note to have caution.

Repetition is something I haven't really considered on a macro level before. Hmm... epeephany, haha. Maybe you have moments of clarity when you go to the bathroom, and so it's something that you associate with moments of clarity when writing? Haha. Well, as long as you mix it up a bit - write it with a different edge each time - I can't see it being a bad thing. Now I'm going to keep this blog entry in the back of my mind when I'm writing from now on. :D